BooHoo - I think my television is dead - any advise on a new one?

[OKNancy]

My old television is finally beyond repair ( I think) There is the white horizontal line across the screen. Fixable I know, but this isn't the first time it has happened. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't the cable company is shooting death rays at it.

SO - if I give up and buy a new one, which I would love to do because I don't have the right hook ups for good quality DVD, etc in the old one, any advise on a new TV?

I'm poor, but my mother-in-law isn't. She always gives us about $1500.00 to spend for Christmas.

( Don't say "do without" please. Shows like "Angels in America" and Bill Moyers are well worth any problems anyone has with teevee watching)

[Bertha Venation]

1. SONY

For $1,500 you can get an excellent Sony television. We have a 27" flat-screen (flat's nice) -- was about $650. Not plasma, but then, who has to keep up w/ the Joneses?

Sony is the best.

[OKNancy]

8. Can't afford a plasma, for sure

But one problem is that we are spoiled. The one I have now is a 37" that I picked up at the TV repair shop ( someone couldn't afford to pay their bill and so the repair guys sold it. It's worked great for 8 years....until the last 6 months)

[Kahuna]

19. You can get a Sony 36" or 43" for less than $1,500.

good luck! You might be able to get a 50" with $1,500 too. You might have to put a couple of hundred with it. But you can get one that is HDTV ready.

[mhr]

2. TV Free Here For Years, Don't Replace It, Liberate Your Mind Instead!

eom

[OKNancy]

3. LOL I knew someone would say that!

But as someone who is "entertainment challenged" and with a sport-nut husband and a teenager, I think that is not an option.

[Bertha Venation]

5. reading comprehension troubles?

;)

I like the idea, personally, but I do watch TV and my mind is quite liberated, tyvm. Think for yourself -- you don't need to blow up the TV to do it.

:hi:

[Kolesar]

9. that means you have never seen the doppler weather radar

Ok, maybe you have. I like it for when planning bike trips or painting that garage that always needs painted.

[Systematic Chaos]

4. Don't do without, but don't spend the entire $1500 on a new TV either.

You can get rather decent 32" TV's now for $500 or less on sale, and they will have the S-Video inputs for better resolution and a lot of other nice features. True, they're not Hi-Definition or anything but I think for most people that kind of set is just fine.

It is possible now to get a larger projection TV for just over $1000, but again it won't be Hi-Definition, and you gotta ask yourself if double the money is worth another ten inches of picture.

[Kahuna]

21. True that. You can get a 32" for around 500 or less...

I'd do it!

[Lost4words]

6. My Advice is,

Dont feed the corporate capitolists that have saddeled us with this junta. The lowest margins for the retail business is in the conventional type set. I would go for a 27 to 32 inch at around $250, to $400. stereo. I have found that a great TV with bad cable sucks no matter how much you spend. We were on cable for years always with so so reception.
We now are on satilite and the picture is crystal clear, in all weather!

Good Luck with your decision!

[Systematic Chaos]

11. You said it a bit more - succinctly - than I did.

But yeah, there really is little point in spending all that extra money when the returns diminish so much as the price goes up... and up... and UP.

[BiggJawn]

7. Sony is good, Sanyo is good, RCA is CRAP....

Zenith is crap, don't go for any "store brands" like Goldstar, Airline, etc. Daewoo is pure shit.

Panasonic is good, same for Phillips ( I maintain a fleet of 200 Phillips hotel sets, failure rate is 1% after 1 year)
Magnavox is AKA "Maggot-Box", Emerson is junk....

But since you only watch "NOW with Bill Moyers", any set should last for many years with that light a load on it :-)

I am a TV/VCR repairman. I feed myself that way.

[OKNancy]

12. Oh goodie goodie - pick your brain

1. Is turning the tv off and on bad for the set?

2. I was kind of joking about the cable company and the death ray, but I noticed the the sound pops and goes really loud often...and it did that three times right before the current problem. ( It only happens late at night)

2. I think this is a vertical amplifier collapse...how much would a good repairman charge for that.?

[BiggJawn]

41. Answers...(had to rescue this from Page Eight!)

1. How often do you turn it on and off? Twice a day? Evry ten minutes? Once in 6 months? Most the monitors I tend get turned on/off once a day. Some of those are approaching 15 years old and have been trouble free. I wouldn't "flick" one on and off like I've seen bored kids do, though. Normal use is not harmful.

2. Dunno. Might be sloppy programming at the cable company.


3. Winner! Yes, something has 'let go" in the verticle system. Now, is it the Video Drver chip, the V. Amplifier, or the yoke? Repairman could cost $90 an hour plus parts. Maybe $150 up to $350 to fix it. New TV can be bought for not much more.

[Systematic Chaos]

13. Magnavox is that bad?

My TV that got stolen back in late October was a 27" Magnavox that I bought at Best Buy as a floor model for about $350 in 1996 (and that was an awesome price for a 27" back then). It got very heavy use and was in extreme conditions of cold and heat (probably as cold as 40 degrees during a couple of winters spent in a cardboard POS trailer, and as hot as 95 degrees in the summers in my previous apartment with a swamp cooler that did absolutely NOTHING), and also got a lot of dustfall out here in Vegas. But there wasn't a darned thing wrong with it when I lost it.

[Kahuna]

20. Magnavox is actually a good brand. I have one..

my 27" is a Phillips/Magnavox. No problems. I also have 2 RCAs (one is 11 yo), a Sony and and a Panasonic. I like all of these. The one brand I have had a problem with is, Sharp. I don't like Sharp.

[BiggJawn]

43. RCA's are fraught with troubles, especially the "Thomsen" ones.

Thomsen's engineers got the bright idea to integrate the tuner into the main board, their "Tuner On Board" fiasco.
The usual symptom that your RCA is about to cost you $100 is that it starts to "lose" certain banks of channels, like maybe 2-7, or 14-69. sometimes, an "RCA Technical Adjustment" (left jab to the cabinet, followed by a right roundhouse) will bring it back for a while.
What has happened is that the solder that connects all the shielding and grounds to the tuner has cracked, and unless it's re-soldered with a "special" solder Thom sen sells, will cause the microprocessor to go stupid and wipeout the program in the EEPROM, anothr $100 after fixing the grounds...

I had an ANCIENT XL-100 (made in Indianapolis)that after about 10 years started giving me troubles. Easy to fix, just go see Fred and pay $16 for a rebuilt "MAD Module" (common problem)The XL-100 was all modular, everything important was on a plug-in module. Sort of like cards in your 'pooter, but instead of gold contact fingers, RCA used solder. Which after a few years, oxidizes pretty badly...Big headache!

I don't think GE or Proscans are much better, but face it, those are just once-great names that now belong to Thomsen, a French company that build TV's wherever labour's cheap (so that makes them different than anyone else?)

And if you get 10 years' use from a TV, you've already "Beat the Reaper" by about 2 years and made the marketing guys at the TV company cry...

[BiggJawn]

42. Well, like they say "You Milage may Vary"

I think they have improved somewhat since they combined with Phillips. During the 80's and earlier they were junk. The old tube-type ones were really a trip. Back then, the only thing Magnavox made worth a diddly were record platers.

[GOPisEvil]

22. Sanyo is VERY good.

I've had a 27" model for about 10 years now. It still works as good as new. My parents have 3 Sanyos, and all are older than mine and working well.

[Kolesar]

10. HDTV is a bust. Worse, the fed is going to require all sets have it in 04

HDTV is floundering because no one is buying (it is not really cable or satellite compatible). So the federal gov't is going to require that all sets have HDTV tuners next year. Adding a tuner is hundreds of dollars now. With high volume , it should drop to <$100, but who wants to spend one cent on a feature that they will never use?!

There are some good articles on these and video recorder copyright rules in the last few months at www.slate.com

[OKNancy]

15. Really!

Well that is something I didn't know.

So, I have digital cable...I should just get an " old-fashioned" good quality t.v. ???

[Kolesar]

18. Yes

further:
I like Bigjawn's advice on brands in post 7.
Every video tube has a limited lifespan, so the old tv will expire even if you fix it. (unless you only watch an hour a day).
Consider that a repair would be on the order of $100, minimum and you can buy an "equivalent" set for ~$250.
If you wait for the old TV to expire, you will need to buy the HDTV tuner as I mentioned in the other post.
I like Panasonic. Sony has sold me three bad radios, 2/Car & 1/portable
Good morning!

[Enraged_Ape]

26. Greed and the FCC killed HDTV

HDTV is a darn good technology, and nothing beats a true HDTV signal. But when the FCC handed out spectrum to television providers to use for HDTV, instead of actually providing a true HDTV signal, they carved what they had into little pieces. They created a bunch of lower-definition digital channels while also selling some of the spectrum to cell phone companies, etc., for their digital purposes. There were apparently no restrictions on all of this; and as you know, in the world of deregulation nothing beats a few extra $$$ at the expense of everyone else.

[trof]

14. Built in DVD.

We just got a 27" Sanyo w/ built in DVD and VHS players. Love it. Around $300 at Lowe's.
BTW, paid $15 more than for a similar model at Walmart, just on principle.

[trof]

28. addendum to above

Our old TV was hooked up to a digital cable box, VCR, DVD, and an RF box (whatever that is) to connect everything. Back of the TV looked like somebody had thrown a large pot of vermicelli back there.

I had to sit down with 2-3 owner's manuals, 3 remotes (No, the universal remote WILL NOT work with the cable box.) and a flashlight (WHY do they make control button labels so small and faint?) every time I wanted to run a tape or DVD.
Let's see...for tape, the cable box is ON, the TV is ON, the DVD must be OFF, and the VCR at STANDBY until...no wait...the CABLE BOX at STANDBY and the...aw screw it, I'll watch Seinfeld.

Now I pop in a tape or DVD and hit "play".
Ahhhhhh.
:-)

[LynneSin]

37. I'm the same exact way

One TV with both VCR AND DVD built in. All use 1 remote.

I like my life uncomplicated!!

[Swede]

46. but any one component failure and you lost everything.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[Nomad559]

16. Mitsubishi

The best TV I owned was a Mitsubishi TV, I never had one problem with It. Both my Mother and Brother bought one because of the quality of mine, and they have never had any problems with their TV.

[OKNancy]

17. That's what I have now

I like it, and as I wrote above, it was used, and has worked fine with heavy use for eight years.

[RebelOne]

23. I say to replace it.

Do you have a Best Buy near you? They have the best prices on TVs and if you are going to spend over $1,000, you can get one with all the bells and whistles. That's where I bought my last TV. A 27-inch Sharp for $300.

[radwriter0555]

24. Sharp Aquos! The flat panel teevee, is great if you have a small

house like I do, and not a lotta room.

I got a 15" for about $500 and I LOVE IT. It takes up NO room at all, whatsoever.

I love my teevees, I got the larger one for the living room, and keep the smaller one in the bedroom.

Next, Home THEE UH TUH.

[liberalmuse]

25. Try the thrifty ads...

Perhaps someone is selling a large screen cheap. Also, someone here mentioned buying a floor model. I do this a lot, and you save hundreds of dollars doing this, plus you get the same warranty.

[Mistress Quickly]

27. Try a pawn shop... eom

[OKNancy]

29. Well my brain hurts now

With so much advise.

I noticed the morning paper is crammed packed with ads from Bestbue, Ultimate, etc. At least if I go in, I'll sound smarter.

[truthspeaker]

30. my advice

You should be able to get a 25 inch TV for under $300.

But the real reason I responded to this thread is to point out that it's spelled "advice". </spelling fascist>

[OKNancy]

31. More info

Thanks for the ADVICE.

I found out that my local cable company offers these HDTV broadcasts:

ABC, NBC, Discovery, HBO, SHowtime, ESPN, and two pay per view channels.

It costs $9.95 to rent the box. I think I pay that now with the digital cable box rental.....going to call in a minute.

[hlthe2b]

32. Standard TVs are really pretty cheap now (relatively)

SInce they are gearing up to be phased out with the advent of HDTV (which I still think is some time away).

I like Sony though. I've never worn one out-- just tend to pass em on.

[LynneSin]

33. Buy it at Sears

I've bought all my TV's from Sears and I think they have the best deals. Both of my TVs were "Open Box" returns which meant that someone returned them and they can't sell them for full price again.

You still get the same warranty with them and a great TV for at least 20% of what the regular cost is. Both of my TVs and 2 of my old VCRs all were "Open Box" buys from Sears. (One VCR I had for 10 years til I finally had to replace it, the 2nd one is 6 years old and still running but at my grandparents place. My TVs both have VCRs built into them.)

My favorite TV is a Toshiba Flat Screen (Not to be confused with Flat Panel - which is a thin TV). It has both a DVD and VCR built into it and I got it from Sears for less than $450 since it was "Open Box".

This is the exact model:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05744473000

If you can survive until after Xmas to get your TV, then you'll find some great buys not only at Sears, but other Electronic stores with extra returns being sold for reduced price!!!

[qwertyMike]

34. Here's what I did

TV crashed. I got free cable where I live.

Bought an ATI video card with a cable input(about $60 i think) and was upgrading to a 19" monitor anyway.

So I can run TV on my computer screen. Since I'm not a couch potato I can keep a tiny 1 in sq window running in the corner and enlarge it to any size when the rare event that something interesting actually comes on.

When there's a movie or something I like I just run it full screen.
It allows you to record to your hard drive too! And if you want a transcript you just turn on the Closed Caption feature (in a small window) and it can save the text as a file.

Neat-O

It also gives you that TV-snob ability so say "Actually I don't OWN a TV". Technically true.
:)
Works for me.

[GoBlue]

35. From consumer reports

In order of increasing frequency of repairs for 30-32 inch sets. I would avoid Zenith and RCA.

Sanyo, JVC, Sharp, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony, Philips, Zenith, RCA

[bif]

36. Panasonic

I bought a real nice Panasonic (the first tv I ever bought (we used to get hand-me-downs from my dad) for $199 at Circuit City. I don't think you have to spend a lot more for a sony. The picture on this tv is great. Although I have to admit, we don't watch much tv--we rent the occasional movie.

[BuckeFushe]

38. TV's are disposable, buy cheap, buy a brand name, buy at Costco

If you aren't a junkie, spend as little money as possible. Even 7 years ago, people fixed TV's, now they just throw them away because all the components are imbedded on the board and damn near impossible to replace.

I had a 17" NEC monitor I bought in May for $189, it went out in October. NEC stated that it had to be shipped to LA at my expense ($65) for "repair or replacement" and would take 4-6 weeks from when they receive it to ship one back to me, since there are no longer authorized repair centers in the US.

It wound up in the recycling center. Went to costco, bought a Envision for $97. Buy cheap and enjoy.

[commander bunnypants]

39. Anything but RCA

they suck big ones.

DDQM

[el_gato]

40. don't buy one at all

you'll be better off

[Deja Q]

44. Wait on HDTV!!!!!!!!!!

Current models may or may not be upgradeable when they implement the broadcast flag and other means of copy protection.

Get a cheapie 27" or so until 2006, when HDTV becomes mandatory and regular broadcast channels are ended.

[Swede]

45. Buy a cheap tv for now.

Don't buy a plasma tv. The technology is already obsolete. The next generation of tv's will be organic leds.